


Building Our Paper House

by reeseo, seamarcc



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Camping, Canon Compliant, F/M, Friends to almost-lovers to enemies to friends to lovers, Gay Arthur, Gen, Ghosts, Halloween, High School, Homecoming, Hurt/Comfort, Kingsmen Mechanics, M/M, OCs (Minor Characters), Pining, Slow Burn, Trans Arthur, adhd arthur, autistic vivi, bastard motherfucker ghost, bi lewis, bpd lewis, lesbian vivi, mcdonalds, shiromori doesn’t exist au, so sorry for comphet, sorry honey, updates will be super erratic, will update tags with posts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-08-09 18:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16454834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeseo/pseuds/reeseo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/seamarcc/pseuds/seamarcc
Summary: He watched the other students pass by in a daze. He had just moved in with his Uncle Lance a month ago, which was barely enough time to get him into a school near the beginning of the year. So here he was, having his first day at a new middle school a month later than everyone else.This was going to be so much fun. Not.—When a young Arthur Kingsmen attends a new school, he makes two surprising new friends. They have plenty of adventures, but the world as he knew it isn’t entirely as it seems. Talking dogs, ghosts and crushing turns his world upside down.





	1. Chapter One

Arthur shivered in his thin t-shirt, staring up at the school building. It was mid-September, and like an idiot, he’d decided not to wear a jacket today, because apparently, technically being summer meant that keeping warm in the chilly September mornings he should’ve expected wasn’t actually a necessity.

 

He watched the other students pass by in a daze. He had just moved in with his Uncle Lance a month ago, which was barely enough time to get him into a school near the beginning of the year. So here he was, having his first day at a new middle school a month later than everyone else.

 

This was going to be so much fun. Not.

 

* * *

 

“Class, I’d like to introduce you to our new student, Arthur Kingsmen. I expect you to treat him with respect. Arthur, do you have anything to say to the class?”

 

“U-Uh, hi.”

 

Arthur hoped the other students didn’t hear his voice crack. Somehow, though, he doubted any of them would have cared if they did.

 

The girl next to him scooted her chair closer to the short boy. “What’s poppin’?”

 

Arthur blinked at her once. Then twice. “What?”

 

She laughed a little. “That seat’s been empty all year and I'm bored of not having anyone sit next to me to talk to. It’s only David in front of me, but he’s absent all the time. I’m Vivi. Your name’s Arthur?”

 

Feeling a little put on the spot, Arthur shifted in his chair, angling his knees away from the gi- Vivi. “Yeah. The, uh, guidance counselor was showing me around the school.”

 

“Oh!” Her eyes widened. “Is that why you were late to class?”

 

“Uh, yeah. It, uh, took a while. They really only showed me the gym, cafeteria and the office.” Arthur wanted to die. This was a lot more talking than he’d expected. So long, plans of staying quiet and waiting until high school to make an appearance to the general public.

 

Vivi pushed her glasses up onto the top of her head, and absolutely  _ beamed _ at Arthur. “I can show you around the school during lunch, then!”

 

Woah. Five minutes into first period and he’s already made a friend? That’s probably a new record. Arthur hasn’t made friends that fast in his entire life. Vivi had bright blue hair, and eyes that matched, although Arthur guessed that they were usually hidden behind the huge glasses currently perched above her bangs. He absentmindedly wondered if her hair was naturally blue. It wouldn’t be that uncommon.

 

“Miss Yukino, please no talking during class!” The teacher snapped, looking at her from the front of the room. Vivi jumped away from Arthur, laughing. “Sorry Mrs. Peterson!”

 

Vivi glanced at him, still smiling. “You know where the skateboard lockers are?”

 

Arthur almost cracked a grin at that. “You have lockers for skateboards here?”

 

“Yeah, well, y’know. It’s not like anybody uses them,” she whispered to him, leaning downwards conspiratorially. “So, anyways, that’s where-”

 

“Miss Yukino, if you keep talking to that boy I’ll have to move your seat again!”

 

Vivi grinned apologetically, and dutifully pulled out her notebook, subtly shooting Arthur a thumbs-up under the table.

 

This was going to be a really long day. Arthur couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.

 

* * *

 

A week later, and Arthur had somehow fallen into a rhythm. First through third period with Vivi, second and fifth with her— their— friend Lewis. Lunch they’d meet at the skateboard lockers, and talk until the bell rang. It was nice to already feel like a part of something.

 

“Anyways, all I’m saying is that The Princess Bride would’ve been WAY better if whats-his-face had been a girl.”

 

Ah, yes, The Princess Bride. Arthur knew absolutely nothing about it, but apparently, his two new friends knew absolutely  _ everything _ .

 

“You say that about everything, Vivi. You do have a point about the gay part, though,” Lewis said, smiling widely. That was another thing Arthur noticed- these two smiled a lot more than he was used to.

 

Vivi threw her hands into the air triumphantly. “THANK you! Finally someone with taste around here!”

 

Arthur smiled shyly, rubbing the short hairs on the back of his neck. “Are you trying to attack me for only watching Pokemon and action movies?”

 

Vivi winked at him.

 

Lewis giggled.

 

“And what if I am?”

 

“Vivi, all three of us know that last year you had a four month period where the only thing you ever watched was Gravity Falls.” Arthur retorted at her.

 

Lewis laughed loudly at that. “And right now it’s Ghost Adventures!”

 

Vivi huffed out a breath as she pulled out her lunch. “Ghost Adventures is an underrated classic, Lew.”

 

“Vivi, the most recent episode came out two weeks ago. That doesn’t count as a classic,” Arthur pointed out. He knew because Vivi wouldn’t stop talking about it the first time they hung out.

 

Vivi stuck out her tongue at him, before popping a strawberry into her mouth.

 

Lewis looked mortified. “Vivi, you can’t just eat the whole strawberry! Those are leaves!”

 

“Fucka you,” Vivi said around a mouthful of fruit.

 

Arthur was mortified for a totally different reason, and he let out an unmanly shriek when some pieces flew out of her mouth as she spoke. “Vivi!! You can’t eat strawberries anymore!”

 

She laughed, spitting more out. “Why, or you’ll die?”

 

“ _ YES!! _ I’m allergic!!”

 

Lewis shrugged. “It’s not like they’re touching you.”

 

Arthur dropped his voice down to a low whisper. “When you eat them, there are strawberries  _ in the air _ .”

 

Vivi looked at him as if she was trying to decide if he was being serious or not.

 

Lewis made eye contact with her, and they had a small, invisible conversation that Arthur didn’t understand a single word of, until Vivi narrowed her eyes and put her strawberries back into her backpack.

 

“Fine. you win. But you have to agree that Ghost Adventures is the best.”

 

Arthur sighed. “Vivi, that’s an opinion. My  _ deathly allergy _ isn’t an opinion.”

 

Vivi laughed again. “Whatever you say, dude.”

 

He hunched over himself thoughtfully. “I’m also allergic to dogs.”

 

Vivi patted his back sympathetically. “Never come to my house. We’ve had a dog for five years.”

 

“Don’t feel too bad, Arthur. I’m lactose intolerant,” Lewis said, patting his back as well.

 

Arthur scowled. “You can still eat milk anyways. Cheese. Dairy. Whatever. I’ll die if i breathe in a strawberry.”

 

“Lewis gets nasty digestive issues when he drinks milk, though. Idiot does it anyways though!” Vivi laughed fondly.

 

Arthur smiled weakly at his two friends. Lewis stared Vivi in the eyes as he pulled yogurt out of his lunchbox, causing Vivi to burst into further laughter. Arthur started laughing with them, smile widening. A week into school and he already had two friends— more than he imagined __he’d have. He had hoped to be able to blend into the background until high school, but as the feeling of warmth spread through his chest as he laughed, he realized it was much better this way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween rolls around and brings with it friends, candy, movies and a dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> early update just for the holiday!

The month of September passed, and on the first of October Arthur walked into class to see Vivi wearing… skeleton leggings and a sweater that had pumpkins and bones across it. 

 

“Vivi,” Arthur said amusedly, “It’s not Halloween yet.”

 

“It’s October! Which is the month for Halloween!” She grinned at him, crossing her arms. Arthur smiled back at her, leaning against his desk. “So… you’re getting into the  _ spirit _ of things?” He laughed as she threw a balled up piece of paper at him. 

 

Vivi huffed, smiling. “Me and Lewis go trick or treating together every year! You should come with us!” Arthur blinked, then grinned back at her, nodding. “Okay!”

 

“Alright class, take your seats! I’m taking attendance.” Mrs. Peterson called out to them. Vivi sat down at her desk, whispering to Arthur. “Anyway, we always try and hit as many neighborhoods as possible. Especially the rich neighborhoods.”

 

“How many do you try to hit?”

 

“The most we’ve gotten through is five. We had more than one bag of candy.”

 

“Vivi, are you present?” The teacher asked. Vivi continued talking. 

 

“I’m gonna be a witch, my costume is going to be awesome. Do you know what you’re going to be?”

 

“Vivi!”

 

She jumped, smiling sheepishly at Mrs. Peterson. “Here!” The teacher shook her head. Arthur chuckled under his breath, whispering, “We can talk about it at lunch.”

 

* * *

 

They had decided on which neighborhoods to go to, and their costumes. Lewis was going to be a vampire, and Arthur was going to be a werewolf. As Halloween grew closer and closer, Arthur grew more and more excited. It was, unfortunately, the first time he’d go trick-or-treating with anyone other than Lance (and one friend if he was lucky) in… he honestly didn’t know how long.

 

He was pondering about whether he should tear some clothes for the costume or not, when his uncle called him downstairs to eat. Arthur hurried down the stairs, sitting down at the table and starting to wolf down his food. His foot tapped against the floor as he kept thinking about how to make his costume great. It’s not that he wanted to impress his friends, but… yeah, he did. 

 

“Arthur?”

 

Halloween was a chance to be anything you wanted! Anyone can look cool with the right costume. 

 

“Arthur.”

 

Should he have werewolf ears? Or should he go with a mask?

 

“Arthur!”

 

He jumped, looking over at his Uncle Lance, giving him a smile. “Um… yes?” Lance snorted, shaking his head. “I can hear you thinking from a mile away. What is it?”

 

“I want to have a really cool costume for Halloween. I didn’t know how to do it.”

 

Lance raised an eyebrow. “You’re usually pretty straightforward when you decide on what you want to be.”

 

“Yeah but I’m not going alone this year! So it needs to be extra good, Uncle Lance.”

 

The man blinked, then smiled, leaning back in his chair. “They’re your friends, right? They’ll think it’s cool no matter what it is, kid. Just do the costume you want.”

 

Arthur nodded, speaking as he ate. “Thanks, Uncle Lance.”

 

“It’s why I’m here. Now stop shoveling so much food into your mouth before you choke on it.”

 

* * *

 

It was finally Halloween! Vivi’s mom dropped her and Lewis off at Arthur’s home, and Vivi rapidly knocked on the door. Arthur opened the door ever so slightly, smiling at them. He tried to get outside making as little noise as possible, yelling as he was outside. “Bye Uncle Lance!” He shut the door, trying to hurry Vivi and Lewis along. 

 

The door, much to Arthur’s chagrin, flew open, causing Vivi and Lewis to look over at the short, stocky blond standing in the doorway. “So you two are Vivi and Lewis?” He gruffed out. Arthur grimaced, groaning. “Uncle Lance…”

 

Vivi took it in stride, grinning. “That’s us!”

 

Lance looked at them, crossing his arms. Lewis was absolutely taller than him yet he felt like he was being stared down at. 

 

“Make sure my boy doesn’t get hurt, got it?”

 

“Uncle Lance, I’ll be fine!” Arthur sighed at the same time Lewis cheerfully said, “We wouldn’t let it happen!” 

 

Lance stared at them for a few moments before snorting, giving them a smile. “Go have fun.”

 

“We’re gonna have barrels of it!” Vivi tipped her witch’s hat at him, then grabbed Arthur and Lewis’s hands, going down the sidewalk. Arthur hid his face in his free hand. 

 

“He’s embarrassing… sorry about that.”

 

“I like him.” Vivi laughed. Lewis chuckled, looking over at Arthur. “He wants you to be safe. And what is he? A wrestler or something?”

 

“He says that he isn’t. I don’t know if I believe him.”

 

“Whatever he is, tell your uncle not to forget leg day,” Vivi teased, letting go of their hands. Arthur pushed her lightly, causing her to stumble against Lewis. “Watch the costume. It’s designer,” Lewis joked, laughing with the other two. 

 

Vivi’s mom honked from her car. She rolled down the window, yelling to them. “You kids wanna trick or treat or stand there all night?”

 

“Shotgun, it’s my mom so I get it!” Vivi yelled, getting into the front seat. Lewis and Arthur scrambled into the back, buckling up. “Thank you for driving us, Ms. Yukino.” Arthur gave her a sheepish smile. She turned around, looking at him and flashed a smile. “It’s not a problem! It’s nice to finally meet you, Arthur.”

 

After sprinting from house to house with the help of Vivi’s mom driving them between (rich) neighborhoods, they ended up full bags of candy. Somehow, Vivi ended up with the most, even though they went to exactly the same houses. 

 

As the night drew to its logical close, the three kids complained about the night ending as they were driven. “Mooooom, can we please have a sleepover?” Vivi begged, shaking her mom’s elbow as much as she could.

 

“You have school in the morning! Plus, no changes of clothes or their parents permissions.”

 

“Can we watch a movie then? Please, please, please?” she begged further, mouthing to Lewis and Arthur to help, causing them to start begging with “please’s” too. Ms. Yukino laughed, shaking her head. 

 

“Alright! I’ll take you to my house and you’ll call your parents and ask. If they agree, we can watch a movie.” She smiled as the kids in her car cheered. She pulled into her driveway, chuckling as the three scrambled out and into her house. 

 

Arthur realized Vivi had a dog as they were going inside and they heard barking. He’d be dealing with a night of puffy eyes. “Mystery!” Vivi laughed, trying to keep her dog from jumping all over her costume. Her dog— Mystery, jumped onto Lewis afterwards, who in turn immediately started petting him. Mystery looked over at Arthur, getting off of Lewis. 

 

Arthur held up his hands, giving a smile. “Can you keep him over there so my allergy doesn’t totally break out?” 

 

“Oh, my fur doesn’t cause dog allergies to react,” Mystery said, in a totally unnerving, human-sounding voice.

 

Arthur choked on his spit, doubling over, coughing. Mrs. Yukino shut the door, sighing at Mystery. “Mystery, you know better than to shock strangers like that.” 

 

“Your— Your dog just talked!” Arthur yelled, eyes wide. 

 

“Oh.” Vivi rubbed the back of her neck. “Did I not tell you?”

 

“Wha— What do you mean?! You have a talking dog!” Arthur straightened up, hands in his hair. Lewis sympathetically put a hand on his back. “It’s best not to think too hard on it.”

 

“Dear, are you alright?” Mrs. Yukino asked, looking over at Arthur. He nodded, rubbing his eyes. “I’m just, uh, surprised. Really really surprised.”

 

“My apologies for shocking you so badly.” Arthur stared at the dog, giving him a shaky thumbs up. “Um, no problem?”

 

Vivi clapped, grinning. “Now that’s over with, you gotta call your uncle! Ask him if you can stay for a movie! Then Lewis, call your parents!” 

 

After several minutes of reasoning with the parents, they agreed to the movie night. They put on a B-rated horror film (“PG-13 only!” Mrs. Yukino insisted) and Arthur grew accustomed to Mystery making remarks about it throughout the night. 

 

Arthur nestled into the couch more, popcorn bowl in his lap. “For B-rated horror movies, those things kinda scared the shit out of me.”

 

Vivi scoffed. “That’s ‘cause you got no backbone, man! These didn’t even make me flinch. It’s ridiculous.”

 

Lewis, neutral on the subject, wisely kept his mouth shut as the two argued over whether “The Babadook” was a “superhorror” in Arthur’s words or a “crapfest” in Vivi’s.

 

In the end, they just ended up watching Ghost Adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw ur friends dog can talk


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the middle school coming to an end, Arthur, Lewis and Vivi go on a camping trip. Will they enjoy it or suffer in the bitter wilderness?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first mulichapter arc and we had a lot of fun writing it  
> thank you to punksanddraws for making fanart!!! I love it check it out here  
> http://punksanddraws.tumblr.com/post/179571840769/so-the-first-chapter-of-transzawa-and-lesnbians

“A camping trip?”

 

Despite several months of Arthur exploring the ups and downs of being friends with these two (the ups being having friends at all and the downs being Vivi’s obsession with ghosts), Arthur was still surprised to have them inviting him places.

 

Lewis nodded. “Yeah, it’ll be like, a family trip. Except we’re the family. And your family is there. You get what I mean.”

 

Arthur smiled lightly. “Where would it be?” he asked, tapping his pencil against his paper.

 

“I dunno, some place over in. Uh. Yeah, don’t know. Sorry. It’ll have a lot of hills and its near a lake, though! We can go swimming!” Lewis said excitedly, leaning over onto Arthur’s desk.

 

Arthur cringed internally. He hasn’t gone swimming since before he came out- at least two years ago. “I’ll ask Uncle Lance to call your mom about it.”

 

Lewis smiled, relief shining through his grin. “Of course. So you’re in?”

 

“Sure. What could go wrong?”

 

* * *

 

For the first time in possibly Arthur’s whole life, things  _ didn’t _ go wrong. The trio sat in the back of Vivi’s family van, watching Gravity Falls on the car’s small ceiling DVD player and listening to Vivi sing terribly to the few songs that made it through onto the radio.

 

Lewis still wasn’t completely sure where they were, but he’d been right about the hills and lake. Vivi loudly declared that as soon as they were done setting up, she was going to climb the huge hill next to their site.

 

“Come on, whippersnappers! We’re wastin’ daylight!” Vivi hollered, bouncing in place. “I wanna get to the top of that hill!”

 

“Vivi, it’s 4pm. We have all day,” Lewis said to her, smiling. “We have until campfire at eight to do pretty much whatever we want.”

 

“Yeah, and I want to climb this hill without my loser friends slowing me down! Let’s go!”

 

And with that, she took off, quite literally leaving Lewis and Arthur in the dust.

 

After what felt like hours to Arthur but was probably only ten minutes, they found themselves at the top.

 

The view from the top of the hill was, quite simply, breathtaking. You could probably see at least a mile in each direction, if not more.

 

Vivi sat on the grass. “Wow.”

 

Lewis sat down with her. “Yeah. Imagine how the stars will look from here. You can’t even see the city.”

 

Arthur set down his jacket to sit on before joining the two. “Nothing but trees for miles and miles. Makes you feel a little small.”

 

Vivi nodded in understanding, eyes still fixed on the scenery. Trees dotted the hill before either disappearing as another, taller hill appeared, or becoming thicker as the hills went down. They could barely make out their campsite and hear the sounds of Lewis’s sisters singing to nursery rhymes.

 

And, unfortunately, the sounds of Mrs. Pepper calling for the two boys to get firewood.

 

Vivi groaned. “The smores aren’t even for another few hours! What gives?”

 

Lewis shrugged as he got up, dusting off his pants. “Probably for the girls. Or Mystery got mad that we came up here without him.”

 

“Maybe she’s just being prepared?” Arthur supplied as he joined Lewis in standing. “I mean, getting it now is better than getting it when it’s already dark.”

 

Vivi huffed as she stood up as well. “Whatever. You two can bond while I prepare ghost stories or whatever.”

 

Arthur laughed nervously as they started down the hill. “We’re gonna be telling ghost stories?”

 

“Oh man, you didn’t expect that?” Lewis asked. “Of course she’s gonna be telling ghost stories. This is Vivi we’re talking about.”

 

Vivi patted Arthur’s head patronizingly. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell any if you don’t want to.”

 

“Yeah, but I’ll still have to listen to them!”

 

Lewis laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from ghosts.”

 

Arthur half smiled and half grimaced. Mrs. Pepper called for the boys again and they hurried down the hill to get to her.

 

* * *

 

“So wait. How many pieces of kindling do we need?” Arthur asked, holding up a short stick.

 

Lewis groaned as he put another twig onto his growing pile of wood. “I don’t even know what kindling is, man.”

 

Arthur laughed, walking deeper into the woody area that was deemed to have perfect firewood material. “I guess that makes two of us.”

 

A few beats of silence.

 

“Hey, while we’re getting this wood. Do you want to play a question game or something?” Lewis inquired, looking over at Arthur.

 

The other boy quickly looked up quickly. “Uh, sure. Never have I ever?”

 

Lewis grinned, and held up his 5 fingers, watching Arthur do the same. “Awesome, okay. Um, never have I ever… broken a bone.”

 

Arthur snorted, lowering a finger. “I broke my arm in third grade.”

 

“What were you doing?”

 

“You know when people are on the swings and go really high and jump off? I tried that, but I failed, miserably.” 

 

Lewis laughed, nudging him. “That was smart. Now it’s your turn.” Arthur paused, thinking. “Uh, never have I ever ridden a horse.” His eyes widened when he saw Lewis lower a finger. “What?! When have you done that?”

 

“My aunt works with horses.” Lewis shrugged, smiling at him. “So we visited her one time and she let me ride one.”

 

The two continued back and forth for a while, ending up with Lewis winning the game. Finally, after getting enough firewood, they began to head back towards the campsite

 

Arthur tipped his head towards Lewis, “Hey, have you ever played ‘honey I love you’?”

 

Lewis frowned. “Honey… I love you?”   
  


Arthur sighed. “I’ll take that as a no, then. It’ll be more fun with Vivi, but I’m sure her drama-kid butt knows it like the back of her hand.”

 

Lewis laughed a little, encouraging Arthur to go on. “Okay, so, basically, it’s a classic ‘person in the middle does things’ game. The person in the middle has to go up to someone in the circle, and say, ‘honey I love you, won’t you please just give me a smile.’ The person they say it to has to say ‘honey I love you too, but I just can’t smile,’ without smiling.”

 

Lewis, despite himself, smiled tentatively. “Wouldn’t that be kind of easy?”

 

Arthur tried and failed to hold up a finger around all the firewood. “See, you’d think so, but the catch is that the person asking can do whatever they want to get the person to smile. Sometimes it devolves into basic bad flirting.”

 

Arthur shifted the pile of wood in his arms, and tilted his head slightly down, batting his eyelashes at Lewis. “Honey… Sugar… Flour… I love you so much, won’t you pretty please give me one of your toothy grins?”

 

Lewis couldn’t even make it through the full ‘toothy’ before bursting into a fit of giggles.

 

Arthur dropped the look, and smiled bemusedly at Lewis. “You already really suck at this game, huh?”

 

Lewis playfully shoved him, careful to keep either of them from dropping their sticks. “Shut up!”

 

* * *

 

Once the fires were started, they were immediately roasting marshmallows. With the three families they had, they had two campfires going- one with the adults and one for the kids. 

 

Paprika, Lewis’s sister, laid in his lap as they roasted marshmallows. Vivi grinned as she made her s’more, looking between the other five at the campfire. “So, who wants to hear a ghost story?”

 

“Me, me, me!” Cayenne yelled, grinning back at her. Arthur groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Vivi, I want to sleep tonight…”

 

Lewis chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Like I said, I won’t let any ghosts hurt you.” Arthur smiled weakly at him, murmuring a small “thanks” and shifting ever so slightly closer to Lewis. 

 

Cayenne demanded to tell a story first. Her story followed the tale of a camping trip that ended with a ghost haunting their site due to being murdered there. It was painfully obviously about them.

 

“It was kind of cheesy,” Belle said to her sister, yelping when Cayenne knocked her s’more out of her hand. “Hey!” 

 

Cayenne snickered and stuck her tongue out as Lewis pulled her into his lap alongside Paprika, chuckling. “Be nice, Belle. I’m sure Cayenne did her best.”

 

Vivi gingerly plucked the marshmallow she was making off of her stick and handed it to Belle. “Yeah, yeah. Are y’all ready for the  _ real _ good stuff?”

 

Belle squealed excitedly and pressed up against the older girl. Lewis laughed as Arthur and Paprika both shuddered.

 

Vivi grinned almost wickedly, and dropped her voice down. “Well. Much like Cayenne’s story, this is about some young teens going on a camping trip. Unlike us, though, these teens were entirely alone.”

 

Arthur hid his head in his hands.

 

Sparing the details, the story was about that group of teens getting eaten by earwigs. Not exactly something any of them (spare Vivi, of course) wanted to hear after pigging out on smores and barbeque.

 

The girls were put to bed about twenty minutes ago, the parents joining them soon after, and the trio of troublemakers was left huddled around the remaining flickers of the fire, lit mainly by Arthur’s large lamp on Vivi’s lawn chair.

 

Arthur was trying not to fall asleep right there on Lewis’s shoulder- when had they gotten so close?- and Lewis was paying rapt attention as Vivi told an overly detailed story about a time she got onto Captain Underpants discourse on tumblr. Arthur was only still awake because Lewis’s frequent nodding kept jostling his head.

 

He didn’t even notice Vivi calling his name until Lewis lightly jostled his arm, causing him to blink wearily at them. “What?”

 

Vivi laughed. “I was asking if you wanted to go to sleep. I take it the answer is yes.”

 

Arthur yawned in reply. “Glad I was able to tip you off.”

 

Laughing, Lewis scooped him up bridal-style, causing Arthur to yelp and cling to the other boy’s neck. “Let’s go, sleeping beauty. Good thing we decided to set up our tents in advance.”

 

Arthur sighed and leaned his head against Lewis’s chest as he was carried to their shared tent. He nearly dozed off again until he was unceremoniously dumped onto his air mattress, and gave a small whine as he crawled into his bag to find the warmth from Lewis’s body he’d been robbed of. “You two are too mean.”

 

Vivi flopped down next to him and poked him on the cheek. “Aww, you know you love us.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

Lewis gave a small huff as he also squirmed into his sleeping bag, pulling in his change of clothes with him. “You guys were smart to change in the bathrooms earlier. Don’t look.”

 

“What would we see? The faint outline of your knees through your sleeping bag?” Vivi teased.

 

Lewis gave her a small glare before throwing his jeans at her.

 

Arthur lets out a small, huffy laugh before letting sleep finally officially overtake him, accompanied by the sounds of his friend’s hushed laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reeseo made art of it!! find it here on tumblr!!!  
> https://lesnbians.tumblr.com/post/179803525880/next-chapter-of-our-mystery-skulls-fic-dropping
> 
> ALSO come scream to us about mystery skulls!! transzawa and lesnbians are our urls on tumblr


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They wanted to go swimming. 
> 
> That was exactly the opposite of what Arthur wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trans arthur trans arthur trans arthur!

Breakfast was a bustle, with everyone running back and forth to grab what they wanted to eat. The sound of clinking forks and chatter filled the campsite. Mr. Pepper looked at the three older kids, lifting Paprika up as she ran by him, chiding her gently to eat. “So what’re you three doing today?” He asked once Paprika had begun eating. 

 

“I was thinking that we could swim today!” Lewis responded excitedly, Vivi overhearing and getting excited as well. “Yeah, you said there was a lake, right? We should totally go!”

 

Arthur froze, locking eyes with his uncle. He shifted uncomfortably, the pressure of his binder suddenly feeling tighter. He had nothing to worry about, Lewis and Vivi were his best friends, right? But that tightness in his chest remained. Lance gave him a comforting smile, and Arthur broke their eye contact. 

 

He blinked when his empty plate was taken from his hands, looking up to see Lewis standing in front of him, smiling. “We’re going to clean up and then we can go to the lake! Sound good?”

 

“Sounds great,” Arthur agreed weakly, looking away from him the moment he turned. He went into their tent, looking through his bag, pulling out his swim trunks. He glanced at his spare binder and a t-shirt, sighing before pulling both out. 

 

“Are you excited?” 

 

He jumped at the sudden voice, fumbling with his clothes, making sure his binder was between his trunks and shirt before turning to look at Vivi. She grinned at him, going over to her bag, continuing to talk. “Cause I am! I haven’t swam since, like, last summer! That’s way too long! What about you?”

 

“It’s— uh, two years.” He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging. 

 

“Two years?” She looked over at him, shaking her head. “I could never go that long without swimming!”

 

Arthur forced a smile, standing up. “I’m— I’m going to go change in the bathroom.” He hurried out of the tent, going to an outhouse that was positioned near their campsite, quickly shutting the door behind him. He sighed, rubbing his face, taking in a breath. 

 

“They’re still your friends, Arthur. It’s not going to matter to them that you’re trans,” he mumbled to himself as he changed. “And you should swim fine. Even if you haven’t in ages. Well, I can doggy paddle at least,” he chuckled bitterly, leaning against the wall and groaned. 

 

He stayed there for, admittedly, too long. He took in a breath, thinking over what he should say when there was suddenly a knock at the door. 

 

“J-Just a minute!” He squeaked out. 

 

“Are you coming out in all senses of the word?” Lance’s muffled voice could be heard through the door. 

 

“YES!” Arthur yelled back. “I’m just— I’m preparing!”

 

“They’re gonna think you’re sick at this rate, kid. You’ve been in here a while.”

 

Arthur fiddled with the clothes in his hands before opening the door, looking at his feet. He was pulled into a hug, and he relaxed against his uncle. Lance murmured, gently rubbing his back. “It’ll be alright. They’re your friends and this ain’t gonna change a thing. And if,  _ if _ , it does, you know where I am. Got it?”

 

Arthur nodded, hugging him tightly. “Thanks, Uncle Lance.” They pulled away, Lance ruffling his hair. “Now go have fun, boy.” Arthur went back towards the campsite, going into the tent to find Vivi and Lewis sitting there. 

 

“I was starting to think you got lost. You okay?” Lewis questioned, eyebrows pinching together slightly. Arthur nodded, putting his clothes in his bag, stammering. “I-I wanted to tell you something.”

 

“Go ahead. We’ll listen.” Vivi spoke, prompting him to continue. He took in a breath, running a hand through his hair. “Well, I’m, um…”

 

He glanced away nervously as tears pricked his eyes. It had to be hard every time. 

 

“I’m trans.” He shut his eyes tightly, unable to stop himself from continuing to speak. “You’re my friends so I wanted to tell you, and it doesn’t mean I’m any less of a boy or anything, I’m just— just—”

 

His eyes snapped open when he felt arms around him. He was sandwiched in a hug between Lewis and Vivi. “We still love you, Arthur! Not ‘still’, we could never stop! You’re you!” Vivi exclaimed, hugging him even tighter. 

 

“I’m glad you trusted us enough to tell us— it doesn’t change a thing about our friendship.” Lewis reassured. Tears fell down Arthur’s face, hugging them back best he could, smiling widely. “Th-Thanks, guys,” he sniffled, wiping his eyes, leaning against them. 

 

After a while they moved apart, and Lewis held a hand out to Arthur. “Are you okay with going swimming?” 

 

Arthur took his hand, standing up, beaming. “Yeah. Let’s go!”

 

Lance glanced over at the three kids running out of the tent, racing down the path to the lake. He smiled, leaning back. It looked like everything was okay.

 

* * *

 

Vivi shrieked as she was splashed with the cold water, splashing water back at Arthur. He yelped, laughing, swimming behind Lewis. Lewis, in turn, dunked him under the water, then was pulled under by his victim. 

 

They both surfaced, laughing. Lewis looked over at Vivi, grinning, shaking the water off his hair. “Stay back!” Vivi started to swim away, screaming when Lewis swam after her. “No, it’s cold! Lewis!” She laughed, glancing back at him. She stopped swimming when she saw that he wasn’t behind her anymore, raising an eyebrow. 

 

Lewis swam underneath her, and toppled her over, popping up above the water. Vivi surfaced a few moments later, splashing him, teasing. “Jerk!”

 

Arthur swam over to them, yelling. “Truce!”

 

“You started it!”

 

“And now I’m declaring a truce!”

 

Lewis and Vivi locked eye contact, then splashed Arthur. He held up his arms in a weak protection against it, laughing. “I’m trying to declare peace!”

 

“ _ Now _ I’ll accept your peace,” Vivi chuckled, smirking. 

 

The three children swam in the lake for a few hours, alternating between being on the shore and in the water. Arthur laid on the shore, his towel underneath him, closing his eyes. 

 

“You’re not sleeping on us, are you?” Lewis joked as he got out of the water, rubbing his towel over his hair. “I’m resting,” Arthur retorted, sitting up and looking over at him. “What do we want to do after this?”

 

Vivi came out of the water, jumping into the conversation. “We could go back up on that hill! I bet it’ll look even better at night.”

 

The three gave a beat of silence for false consideration. They all knew they’d definitely go.

 

“We could bring some food with us too,” Arthur suggested, standing up.

 

“We’ll have a picnic!” Lewis smiled, nodding. “It’ll be fun.” They started walking back to the campsite, and Vivi sighed. “It’ll be so long until it’s night though. What do we do until then?”

 

They argued over what to do until then. A few games were suggested, as was exploring, naps, and climbing trees. They were still debating when they got to the campsite. Mystery lifted his head up from where he was laying, looking over at them. 

 

“Mystery!” Vivi yelled, running over to him. “Help us decide on what we should do until tonight!”

 

He sat up, scratching, glancing over at the adults sitting around talking. Most of which did  _ not  _ know he could talk. 

 

“What if you just, bark if you like the idea?” Lewis suggested, chuckling when Mystery barked in response. They listed off their ideas to him, and he barked at exploring the woods. He’d get a walk, and Vivi’s taste for adventure would be sated. 

 

The three went to go change into dry clothes, and then hurriedly put their others clothes out to dry. “Mom, we’re going to go explore!” Lewis called to Ms. Pepper, who looked over at them. “Don’t go too far away from here! And be back for dinner!”

 

They picked a direction to go into and started looking around. “Look at those mushrooms.” Arthur said, pointing at a fallen tree half covered in mushrooms. “Wanna go near it? It’ll give you toe fungus.” Vivi teased, pushing him near it. “Ew, Vivi, no!” Arthur laughed, scrambling away. 

 

They kept walking, turning over multiple branches and rocks, pointing out the caterpillars and and roly polys they found underneath. 

 

One slightly larger rock laid near a tree with small concaves in the dirt underneath. Lewis started to pull it back and Mystery growled. “Lewis, don’t—”

 

His warning came too late. The rock was flipped over and a head popped up from underneath. The snake hissed at them. The three kids screamed, running back the direction they came.

 

“Will a snake chase us?!” Arthur yelled as they ran. “I’m not sticking around to find out!” Vivi yelled back. 

 

They ran all the way back to the camp, collapsing on the ground, huffing in breaths. Mystery trotted up behind them, rolling his eyes. Needless to say, they stayed at the campsite the rest of the day. 

 

* * *

 

They trekked up the hill, carrying a large blanket and food. They set it all out and laid on top of the blanket, looking up at the sky. 

 

“Wow,” Lewis whispered. Away from the city lights, millions of stars could be seen. The moon shone brightly in the sky as the stars seemed to twinkle around it’s large, brilliant light. 

 

Arthur pointed up at the stars. “There’s Pegasus.” He outlined the shape of the constellation with his finger. “I only see stars,” Vivi admitted, scrunching her nose up slightly. 

 

“Well it’s those four big stars, and…” Lewis watched him try to explain the constellation to her, smiling. The only light they could see each other by was the moon and the stars, which softly lit up their faces. 

 

Arthur looked over at Lewis, smiling. “Do you see it?” Lewis blinked, looking up at the sky. He’d said it was four stars that were brighter than the rest so… “Yeah, I think so. Though it doesn’t really look like a Pegasus.”

 

“It’s interpretive! In Greek Mythology, Pegasus was basically so loyal to Perseus that they turned him into a constellation. That way he can live on in the sky forever.” 

 

He had no idea Arthur liked constellations so much. Arthur pointed out a few more and explained why the gods had put the to the sky. They laid there that way for a while, a gentle wind occasionally washing over them. 

 

They quietly ate the food they brought for their picnic, looking at awe at the view around them. The soft light from the moon reflected on the lake and the silhouettes of the trees seemed to dance with the wind. 

 

“So when did you learn about constellations?” Lewis raised an eyebrow, looking over at Arthur. 

 

“Oh, well… in fifth or sixth grade I started getting really into Greek Mythology. And the constellations were apart of that and so I learned where they were. Though, I never thought I’d have a chance to see it this clearly,” he chuckled, smiling. 

 

“Well I couldn’t tell you about the stars, but I could tell you about the haunted prison Al Capone was in,” Vivi said. 

 

It turns out that it was a solitary confinement and when the prison closed down, the inmates that died took over the prison. They’ve been seen walking the halls and talking. 

 

“Why are ghosts always… murdered and vengeful or sorrowful?” Arthur rubbed his arm, grimacing. “Aren’t there any ghosts who stick around just cause they want to?”

 

Lewis shrugged, petting Mystery, who slept in Vivi's lap. “Well if you were murdered, wouldn’t you want revenge on that person? I guess that emotion that keeps them around is a lot stronger than others. That’s probably why you hear more about angry spirits.”

 

“That’s pretty sad,” Arthur mumbled, quickly being pat on the back by Vivi. “Well it’s not all ghosts driven by revenge! Just some of them. Stronger emotions make a stronger spirit.”

 

They continued to talk about spirits and such, until their yawns started to interrupt their conversation. “We should probably get back to our tent,” Arthur yawned, rubbing his eyes, picking up the basket. Vivi shook Mystery awake, much to his dismay. The apparent dog got up off her lap and laid back down in the middle of the blanket. Lewis tugged at it. “Mystery, I can’t pick this up with you on it.” Vivi grabbed Mystery by the middle, pulling him off. 

 

Mystery shrugged her off, getting back onto his feet. “Alright, I’ll move.” The kids chuckled at his annoyance of being woken up, promising he could sleep soon. They went back to the campsite, quietly as to not wake anyone, and went into their tent. They whispered good night’s to each other as they crawled into their sleeping bags. Their chests slowly rose and fell to the peaceful sounds of nature. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reeseo changed to @punksusie on tumblr!


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of high school has finally come. And with that comes a high school tradition— homecoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is late,, i (marcus) was very busy yesterday and forgot to upload......

Summer came and went in a flash. One day they were lounging around in their PJs for ten hours and watching anime; next they were getting their class schedules, and Arthur was getting off the bus at his new school.

 

High school.

 

Thankfully, this year Arthur had been shown around right on time, and knew where his classes were BEFORE stepping into his- all of their- first day. Once again, Arthur and Vivi shared first period, and he made a beeline straight to where he saw her in the back of the classroom, dropping his backpack under his desk and scooting close to her.

 

“Artie! It’s been too long,” Vivi said, propping her elbows on the table. Arthur rolled his eyes. “We literally hung out two days ago.”

 

“Exactly! Too long.”

 

Arthur gave her a tired smile, looking towards the front as the bell rang. Vivi may have a habit of talking during attendance- something he unfortunately started to pick up- but now, for his first official day of highschool, he was going to make a change. He was going to get all of his work done, and get all A’s, and stop flinching every time Mystery talked with his weird vaguely British accent, and-

 

Vivi tapped his shoulder. “The teacher’s called your name three times now.”

 

Arthur yelped, and shot his hand into the air. “I’m here! I’m. I’m here.”

 

A few girls near them in the back giggled. Arthur hid his face in the crook of his elbow, groaning. “So much for a good first impression.”

 

Vivi pat him on the back patronizingly. Arthur finally noticed how often that happened with her. He was honestly starting to feel like Mystery with all this patting.

 

All of his classes passed by in a blur of name games and syllabuses, and it was suddenly lunchtime. Arthur met the two at a tall red pole in the middle of the basketball courts.

 

He spotted Vivi waving at him, her shoulder propped up against it, and jogged over, waving back. “Hey!”

 

Lewis pointed at him. “What do you think this pole is used for?”

 

Arthur frowned. “What?”

 

“I think it’s supposed to be a flagpole, but Lewis here thinks otherwise,” Vivi explained, patting the pole. Again with the pats.

 

Arthur frowned deeper, sending a confused look at Lewis. “What else would it be?”

 

“Well. Not a flagpole. That’s all I’ve got, but I’m right.”

 

Arthur laughed a little. “Whatever you say, man.” He turned to Vivi. “Where are we gonna go for lunch?”

 

Vivi shrugged, twirling herself around the pole once. “We’re finally allowed to go off campus. I know there’s a cool corner store nearby.”

 

Lewis scoffed. “That’s because you live two blocks away. Me and Arthur here do not have that luxury.”

 

Vivi grinned, and flicked at his bangs. “Yep! Let’s go get some egg rolls.”

 

* * *

 

“This is the lamest spirit week ever,” Vivi deadpanned, staring at the row of bright posters in the hallway.

 

It was early October, now (Vivi was upset when Arthur didn’t want to celebrate the anniversary of him moving to their old middle school), and it was the first time any of them were experiencing the strange magic known as homecoming week.

 

Lewis shrugged. “I mean, pajama day isn’t so bad.”

 

Vivi groaned melodramatically, splaying her body against the wall. “Yeah, but like, schools are legally required to do pajama day or something. Nike versus Adidas Thursday? Who comes up with these things?”

 

Arthur coughed quietly into his fist. “They emailed us surveys to vote for the spirit days two weeks ago.”

 

Vivi shot him a glare from her place against the posters. “Shut up.”

 

Arthur nodded, going back to examining the posters that Vivi wasn’t covering with her body. “Tie Dye Day?”   
  
Lewis laughed. “It’s for hippies!”   
  
Vivi twisted her neck around painfully. “Tie dye is an art, Lewis!”

 

Lewis raised his hands in defeat, chuckling slightly. “Whatever you say, Vi.”

 

That’s another thing Arthur noticed late. These two were all about nicknames.

 

Before his brain could take itself on another tangent, Lewis was gently shaking his arm, looking at Arthur. “Come on, man, break’s over. We’ve gotta go to class.”

 

Arthur smiled at him gratefully. “Yeah. Right. More time for me to zone out and think about how awful Vivi will look on Denim Day.”

 

* * *

 

She looked spectacularly awful.

 

That whole spirit week was fun. Vivi dressed extravagantly for each day- even stubbornly wore a single Adidas baseball cap that Thursday.

 

The real fun, though, was Class Color day.

 

Arthur had walked into the building sporting a simple yellow beanie and shoes and was greeted with a sea of colors- everyone was absolutely decked out in their color. It almost hurt to look at.

 

Throughout the first half of the day, Arthur kept getting greeted with various people sporting various amounts of makeup. By the time the pep rally rolled around, he, Vivi and Lewis all at least wore yellow sashes made of streamers with yellow paint on their forearms and streaks on their faces. Vivi, of course, had already gone all-out for that day, but a little extra spirit never hurt anyone.

 

The rally itself was a blur of yells and stomps. People in the front held up signs to scream- Vivi and Lewis may have unlimited voice boxes, but Arthur did not, and halfway through he could already tell his voice would be hoarse for a week. Various games and  _ so much screaming _ later, and Arthur was tottering back to class, giggling, sandwiched between Lewis and Vivi. 

 

“God, there was so much energy there! I could stay up all night!” Vivi blabbered excitedly, swinging Arthur’s hand back and forth with her own.

 

Lewis laughed. “It’s noon, Vivi. We’re going to go get lunch.”

 

Arthur wheezed out a laugh as well. “There’s a new pizza place down the street. We-” he paused to cough a little, wincing and touching his throat tenderly. “We could try it out.”

 

Vivi nodded, eyes shining. “And tomorrow night, homecoming!”

 

Lewis cocked his head. “Isn’t there the homecoming game tonight?”

 

“Yeah, but do any of us want to see it? It’s just football,” Vivi scoffed.

 

None of them replied. They knew the answer to that question already.

 

* * *

 

Lewis waved to his two friends excitedly. For homecoming, he, of course, had arrived about ten minutes early, and his mom had made him wear a pale button-up shirt. He had protested at first (for about two hours, accompanied by slammed doors and multiple tears), but eventually gave in when Vivi sent a slightly judgemental text saying to ‘just wear the damn shirt wtf’ because ‘who cares if u look like a nerd its a fuckin dance i bet ull look cute anyways’.

 

He admits that her saying he’d look cute is what made him do a total 180° on the shirt.

 

Vivi pulled on his arm. “Come on, Lew! We’ve gotta get our breath tested for weed!”

 

Honestly, the whole ordeal was very exciting until they actually got into the gym.

 

Arthur was the first to speak up after 5 minutes of awkward small talk. “This sucks.”

 

Vivi let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god, I thought none of us would ever admit it.”

 

Lewis let out a barking laugh, and pointed with his thumb towards the door. “We should’ve just gotten McDonald’s.”

 

Vivi grinned, and wiggled her eyebrows at the two as they walked through the doors. “We could still get it now, y’know.”

 

Lewis thanked whatever higher power was out there listening for Vivi. Despite the glaringly obvious solution, neither he or Arthur had figured it out, at least as far as Lewis knew. Vivi was something of a genius, he reasoned jokingly with himself.

 

It was honestly a marvel how close everything was to their school. Barely a five minute walk and they were already hearing the cheerful tingling of the bell as they walked into the nearest McDonald’s, Lewis and Arthur sitting near the front with Vivi running up to the line to give their orders (she was so considerate to have memorized them).

 

Lewis and Arthur sat across from each other, chatting amicably as Vivi waited in line then proceeded to plop herself down next to Lewis.

 

“Alright you two, sorry to burn your conversation topic to the ground, but we're playing truth or dare now,” Vivi said, setting her elbows on the table. “Arthur, truth or dare?”

 

Arthur gave Lewis a terrified stare, but Lewis just smiled encouragingly. He looked back at Vivi. “Truth?”

 

She leaned back triumphantly. “Have you ever been stung by a bee?”

 

“That's a lame question,” Lewis blurted before he could stop himself. He felt his cheeks burn as Arthur nervously laughed and Vivi started full on roaring. “What!” He exclaimed, covering his cheeks with a hand. 

 

Vivi patted his arm, shoulders shaking with laughter. “I wanted to start off the poor guy easy.”

 

Arthur gave her a grateful smile, though Lewis saw it fade slightly at the implication that the questions would get worse as they went on. He stifled a smile as Arthur mentioned a time in fifth grade when one stung him on his hand.

 

Arthur turned to him. “Lewis, truth or dare?”

 

Lewis put his hand to his chin in thought. “Umm, dare.”

 

“Okay, uh, I dare you to go up to that couple over there without your shoes on and ask the dude to tie your shoelaces.”

 

Vivi laughed again. “Dude, where did you come up with that?”   
  
“I dunno. At least it’s better than your bee sting question.”

 

Lewis looked Arthur dead in the eye as he stripped off his sneakers, sliding over to the couple. “Hey, do either of you mind tying my shoelaces?”   
  


The man he asked looked him up and down. “Are you serious?”

 

Lewis laughed. “Not really. It’s for a dare.”

 

The guy gave him the stink-eye and turned back to the girl he was sitting across from, resuming the conversation Lewis had probably interrupted.

 

He slid past Vivi into his seat again. She let out a low whistle. “The madman actually did it.”

 

He shrugged, pulling his shoes back on just as their server set their food down on the table. Lewis stared at the tray for a second. “Do they usually bring it to you?”

 

Arthur, who had only ever used the drive-through with Lance, shrugged. Vivi grinned, pulling out a handful of fries to dump onto a napkin as her own personal treasury. “Who knows! Maybe my natural charm brought him over.”

 

Arthur laughed and started on his burger, but Lewis couldn’t really blame the server if that had somehow been the truth. Vivi had the type of energy that drew people to her like moths to a flame.

 

Not that he’d ever tell that to her face, of course.

 

* * *

 

And they’re just talking. It’s nearly 10pm, and the small rush of other people leaving homecoming to get food once it ended has come and gone, and they’re not the only people left, but they’ve definitely been there the longest. Arthur is on his fifth burger, Lewis is on his second, and Vivi has had a metric fuckload of french fries.

 

Life could honestly be worse.

 

Midway through a conversation with Arthur on whether or not you should put ketchup on your mac n’ cheese (sure Lewis couldn’t cook, but at least he had taste buds), Vivi tugged on Lewis’s sleeve, mouth full of fries. He turned his head to her. “Yeah?”

 

With her free hand, Vivi reached up and combed her hand through Lewis’s bangs, staring intently at it before drifting her hand down to tangle lightly in the hair at the nape of his neck. Lewis’s eyes widened, and he clutched the food he was holding so hard he was worried he would rip the burger. His breath caught in his throat, barely getting out a response of “Uh?”

 

She swallowed, brushing through his bangs again before dropping her hand. “You really need a haircut.”

 

Lewis could feel his ears burning as he hastily turned his attention back to his burger, catching Arthur’s eye. The other boy looked about as surprised and slightly fearful as Lewis felt, so he could at least find small comfort in knowing he wasn’t alone. “Oh? Really?”

 

Vivi, blissfully unaware of the spiral of awkwardness the other two were feeling, laughed and ate another fry. “Yeah, man, you basically have like, a mullet.”

 

Lewis self-consciously brought his hand up to his hair. “A mullet?”

 

She squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. “Not saying it looks bad, dude, I’m just saying. Well. That it looks like a mullet.”

 

Arthur wheezed out a laugh around his food, and Lewis shot him an embarrassed glare.

 

He pulled out his phone, examining his reflection in the black screen. Oh god, Vivi was right. He  _ did _ have a mullet.

 

And, apparently, a new text from his mom asking where he was so she could pick them up.

 

He looked over at his two friends. Vivi had stuck fries on her prominent canines, pretending to be a shitty vampire. Arthur was trying to eat and laugh at the same time, and was failing miserably.

 

Lewis wanted to take a picture of this moment and lock it in his heart forever.

 

He shut off his phone after shooting a quick message to him mom, and took another bite out of his food. “Bad news, guys. My mom's almost here to pick us up.”

 

“Already?” Vivi groaned, as if they hadn’t been there for at least three hours. Lewis nodded.

 

Arthur was already shoving their trash together to throw out. “When will she be here?”

 

“Dunno, probably like five minutes?”

 

Vivi scowled, overenthusiastically shoving the contents of their trash into the respective bins. “That’s not almost.”

 

Lewis shrugged, and put his phone away as they went outside to wait. They were all sleeping over at his house tonight— at least they’d had the sense to put their sleeping bags and whatnot there beforehand so that they didn’t have to be busting into Arthur and Vivi’s places at 11pm.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, are you guys still awake?”

 

“Vivi, this is the third time you’ve asked. Of course we are. Do you KNOW how much sugar I had at McDonalds? At least three milkshakes.”

 

“That’s because you’re a monster, Arthur. Be lucky you can have milkshakes at all without getting a stomachache.”

 

“You had like, fifty percent of mine!”

 

“Yeah, then he bought his own strawberry one so that you couldn’t drink his.”

 

“Stop ganging up on me, Vivi. You were already so cruel bringing attention to my mullet.”

 

“Hey, I’m just telling the truth!”

 

“She’s right about both the strawberry milkshake and the mullet, Lewis.”

 

“Ugh, I know. I’m awful.”

 

“Nooooo! You can be rude and steal Arthur’s milkshakes and have a mullet without being awful.”

 

“I dunno Vivi, I think anyone who steals that much milkshake has to be some revenge-bent demon. The question is what I did to make him want revenge on me.”

 

“Wow, you are really tired, huh?”

 

“I can feel the bags under my eyes getting darker by the minute.”

 

“Don’t worry Arthur, unless you like, tried to kill me or something, I don’t think I’d ever need to get revenge on you.”

 

“Lew! Don’t say that, you’ll jinx it! Now he’ll have to try to kill you so that he deserves your revenge.”

 

“I’m not going to kill Lewis!”

 

“Hey, you never know.”

 

“Could you all go to sleep? Dogs need at least twelve hours of sleep each day, and your constant babbling isn’t as quiet as you think it is.”

 

“Sorry Mystery!”

 

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

 

“... Anyways, Arthur, when you kill Lewis, make sure that you’re doing it fast, or like, in a creepy alleyway so that he gets awesome powers to make his revenge super cool.”

 

“Isn’t stealing his milkshakes supposed to be my, like, pre-revenge?”

 

“Guys. Mystery told us to sleep. I’m gonna sleep.”

 

“You’re just mad that you have to kill Lewis and I don’t.”

 

“That and the fact that we have to be at Lance’s shop at 10 tomorrow.”

 

“Jeez. Yeah, okay, let’s try to rest.”

 

“G’nite.”

 

“Nighty. Love y’all.”

 

“Love you too, Vivi.”

 

“Mmhm.”


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they go over to the Kingsmen Mechanic Shop, they learn that something supernatural has been going on. Vivi, Lewis and Arthur plan to get to the bottom of this mystery— and solve it.

Lance rubbed his face as the kids piled into his truck, glancing between them. “You all ready to go?” he asked tiredly. Arthur raised an eyebrow, pausing for just a brief moment before speaking. “Uncle Lance, did you not sleep well?”

 

He shrugged, driving the truck down the road. “There was some kinda ruckus going on at the shop to deal with.”

 

Lewis nodded sympathetically. “Oh, there was a difficult customer?” His family’s restaurant was no stranger to difficult patrons— just like any establishment. But Lance laughed, waving his hand. “Ha! A customer I can deal with. This was different.”

 

“Oh! Something broke?”

 

“I hope nothing’s broken…”

 

“Maybe it was a raccoon!”

 

The three young teens bickered back and forth about what it could’ve been for a short while before turning to Lance. “What is it?” Vivi asked him. 

 

“I don’t know,” he responded, holding a hand up as they started to protest that for an answer. “Yet. I was closing up and filing some shit when my toolbox fell.”

 

“That… doesn’t sound like that much of a problem,” Lewis said doubtfully. Sure, it sucks, but how is a toolbox falling that much of a problem?

 

Lance laughed. “Wasn’t until the lights went out, shit kept moving from where I put it, and the heating probably went out that I got annoyed,” he recounted. The teens gasped in surprise. 

 

“But— How did all that even happen?” Arthur sputtered. “That doesn’t—”

 

“Did anything else happen?!” Vivi cut him off, looking at Lance excitedly. Lewis realized what she was thinking as Lance described more of his night, her eyes getting impossibly wide.

 

“Well, the doors wouldn’t stay shut, I kept hearing scratching and footsteps, and it sounded like there was whispering. But there wasn’t anyone there but me. Maybe that raccoon idea wasn’t too far off.”

 

“You have a ghost!” Vivi squealed, waving her hands up and down. “It’s totally, absolutely, one hundred percent a ghost!”

 

Lance chuckled, shrugging. “Not sure about that one, Vivi. You can look though, maybe you’ll find one.”

 

* * *

 

“We’re going to find one,” Vivi promised as they stalked around the mechanic shop. 

 

“My uncle’s had this place for years, and there’s never been a ghost,” Arthur protested weakly.

 

“Until now.” Vivi grinned at him, tossing up the flashlight in her hand and catching it. The power was back on that morning, but she had insisted the fact that they needed a flashlight. 

 

It turned out, after twenty minutes of their searching, she was right. The lights began to flicker and shut off with a loud zap. Arthur jumped, grabbing onto Lewis’s arm. Vivi quickly turned on her flashlight, looking around them. “Ghost!” she yelled. “We know you’re here!”

 

No response. 

 

Vivi pursed her lips then kept moving forward. She knew that it had to be here. She could practically feel it. They were so close. 

 

“You three! Get back over here!” Lance yelled out. Did he find something?! They hurried back over to the front end of the store. Well, Vivi and Lewis hurried while Arthur nervously trailed behind trying to keep up.

 

Lance looked over at them, nodding. “You three stay up here. I don’t want you wandering around in the dark.”

 

“But we were close—” Vivi started, shutting her mouth with a look from Lance. 

 

“You three ain’t getting hurt under my watch. Stay here, and I’m going to go look at the electrical box. Okay?”

 

“We’ll stay here,” Lewis promised. The moment Lance went outside, Vivi turned to go back to looking around. Lewis smiled fondly and started after her.

 

“Vivi, we told him we’d stay here!” Arthur grabbed her wrist, causing her to roll her eyes. “Yeah, but Arthur, we’re so close to finding that ghost. We can’t stop here!”

 

Arthur groaned, letting go of her wrist and grabbing onto his own nervously.

 

Lewis pointed over at the door leading to the service garage. “We haven’t looked in there, right?” Vivi nodded, grinning. “Let’s check it out.”

 

“The most dangerous place for us to look around at in the dark,” Arthur mumbled as they walked in, only the light from the small windows and Vivi’s flashlight letting them see. 

 

They shuffled around a car, screeching when they heard a honk. Vivi pointed her flashlight through the windows of the car. The car had no one and nothing inside. Nothing to have caused it to honk. Unless there had been a ghost.

 

Arthur clung to Lewis again, his eyes wide. Vivi looked at him and gave him a smile. “Relax, dude, this is exciting.”

 

“Except for the fact that every ghost story you hear, someone gets hurt!”

 

“We won’t get hurt!”

 

“Are you sure?!”

 

Lewis put his free hand on his shoulder, smiling too. “It’s kinda scary, but nothing’s happened to us. We’re going to be alright.” Arthur glanced away, letting go of his arm after a moment, murmuring, “Okay…”

 

They suddenly heard a crash. On the other side of the room, a toolbox had fallen off of a table. “Ghost! Can you come out? We wanna talk!” Vivi yelled. Arthur groaned, whispering to Lewis, “Aren’t you scared of this?”

 

“I think meeting a talking dog has significantly decreased my fear. I just don’t feel like we’re going to be hurt. Maybe it's a side effect of being around Vivi for so long.”

 

“Oh, Mystery would have been great help here!” Vivi jumped in, looking back at them. She went to say something else then paused at the expressions of shock on their face. “Huh? What is it?”

 

Lewis moved forward, pushing her behind him, holding his arm out. Vivi’s eyes widened as she looked in front of him. 

 

A ghost stood in front of them. The apparition stood with crossed arms, glowering down at them. It had no face aside from a broken skull, and it’s eye sockets seemed to narrow. Electricity sparked off of it and Vivi’s flashlight went out. When it spoke, it’s voice echoed around them. 

 

“Murderer…”

 

Arthur cowered, taking a step back as Lewis moved Vivi further away. Vivi rested her hand on Lewis’s shoulder and could feel how heavily he was breathing. 

 

No one moved. 

 

The ghost suddenly started to laugh, a human face appearing instead of the skull. It doubled over, eyes crinkling as it laughed. “Oh you should’ve seen your faces!”

 

Huh? 

 

“Haha! It gets me every time!”

 

Huh?!

 

Vivi ducked under Lewis’s arm to move in front of him. She pointed at the ghost, yelling, “Were you pranking us?!”

 

“Yeah, and it was funny, huh?” 

 

She kept eye contact with the ghost, crossing her arms, scowling. The ghost rubbed the back of its neck, glancing aside. “Geez, kid, lighten up.”

 

She stared at it for a moment longer before breaking out into a grin. “Gotcha back.” The ghost blinked before laughing again, waving a finger at her. “Oh, I like you!” 

 

Arthur leaned against the wall, groaning, rubbing his face and staring blankly into the distance. “Oh my god, I think I had a heart attack. I think I’m still having one.”

 

“Hey, don’t make jokes about heart attacks. That’s how I died,” The ghost spoke seriously, causing Arthur to jump. “I-I’m sorry, I—”

 

“I’m just messing with you!”

 

Arthur sighed as the ghost laughed— again. 

 

“So, uh, do you have a name?” Lewis prompted, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Call me James,” The ghost grinned, pointing at himself. “Died in my twenties from disease. Ain’t ever got to experience much and was a quiet kid. There was always a rascal waiting inside to be released though!”

 

“You seem really comfortable talking about your death,” Vivi paused, giving him a signature smile, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Can I ask you some questions?”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Why are you so comfortable about it? How long have you been a ghost? You seem powerful, why's that? Why are you here? Did you die here? Are you able to travel or are you fixated to one area? Do you know any other ghosts? What—”

 

“Vivi, l-let him answer.” Arthur stopped her, stuttering slightly as he looked at James. 

 

James blinked, laughing, holding up a finger with each question he answered. “Knew it was coming, and I had time to come to terms with dying. Plus I’m having fun. Strong emotions and memories power ghosts— plus, I’ve learned more tricks over time. It’s been around fifty years. I go from place to place, pulling tricks, so no i didn’t die here. I’m just trying to get a good laugh. Some ghosts are trapped where they died— or to certain people. I’ve met some ghosts over my time too.”

 

Vivi grinned, nodding. Getting information straight from the source about ghosts! She was talking to a ghost! She rocked on her heels, hands flapping up and down. “So you’re a pretty fun ghost!”

 

“That’s right I am!” He grinned back at her, crossing his arms proudly. 

 

“Would you be able to turn the lights back on? It’s a bit hard to see.” Lewis said, causing James to snap his fingers. “Right! Almost forgot!” The lights flickered for a moment before turning back on. 

 

Arthur moves over to them, still standing behind Lewis and Vivi, even though he had calmed down. He was obviously still wary of the ghost, yet it seemed his curiosity was too great to keep standing aside though. “Um… you had electricity flashing around you earlier. Wh-Why’s that?”

 

“That’s power. Some of the dead get to manipulate fire, or water, or other stuff. Pretty cool, huh?” James flashed electricity out of his fingertips, smiling. 

 

“Super cool!” Vivi said at the same time Arthur said, “Yeah, it’s really cool.” They locked eye contact with each other, laughing. 

 

“Is that why you can mess with the lights?” Lewis questioned, smiling. The ghost chuckled, holding a finger up to his lips. “Alright these are some ghost secrets you’re asking for. But most ghosts can mess with electrical currents. Cause it’s energy. The more energy, the more fun manipulation. But what  _ I  _ can do with this electricity is like a bonus.”

 

He smiled as he dramatically paused.

 

“Wait, what do you mean a bonus?” 

 

“Please tell us!” 

 

“What can you do?”

 

He held up a hand, stopping the questioning from the teens. He chuckled. “I think a demonstration will be better.” He held his hand out, electricity sparking out of it like lightning. “And that’s small scale. I can manipulate static electricity from the air.” He beamed from their amazed looks. 

 

Suddenly the door slammed open, Lance huffing. “What part of stay put is so hard to get?” He paused, raising an eyebrow at James. “Who’s this?”

 

“He’s a ghost!”

 

“Just a customer, Uncle Lance!”

 

“His name is James!”

 

Lance rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “You three, quiet. Who are you?”

 

“Would you believe your cousin?”

 

“Considering the fact I don’t talk to extended family, and that I don’t have a cousin, no.”

 

“Well, it seems I’ll be taking my leave then. It was fun!” James chortled, a garage door lifting up as he walked out.

 

“Get back here!” Lance yelled, running outside, stopping. There wasn’t a man in sight. “I told you he was a ghost.” Vivi noted, smiling at him. 

 

Lance looked back at them, deadpanning. “Vivi…” 

 

“It was, Uncle Lance! That’s why all that stuff happened last night.” Arthur defended Vivi, expression serious. Lance paused, looking at Lewis. “Are you going to tell me he was a ghost too?”

 

“I’d be lying if I didn’t.”

 

Lance stared at them, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “All right, I don’t want to know,” he sighed. He shut the garage door and pointed them inside, giving them a look. “And next time I tell y’all to stay put, you’re gonna stay put. Don’t talk to strangers too, you could’ve been hurt. Now go in.” 

 

“Sorry.” Lewis apologized sheepishly, the teens hurrying inside. They looked at one another and started laughing. 

 

“I can’t believe we just met a ghost.” Lewis grinned, running a hand through his hair. Vivi beamed, hugging him excitedly. “I know! It’s awesome!” Their laughter trailed off slightly, realizing how close their faces were to each other. Vivi felt her cheeks redden, pulling away, patting his chest. Lewis looked to the side, wide eyed and blushing. 

 

Arthur cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “Wanna go get some victory snacks? There’s a fridge in the break room with leftover pizza,” he said awkwardly, pointing down the hall. 

 

“Yeah I do!” Vivi agreed, relief washing over her for the break in the silence. The awkwardness faded quickly as they raided the break room, clearing off most of the food as they celebrated their victory. It wasn’t every day you got a chance to investigate the paranormal, afterall. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bastard ghost jackass man


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As their first semester closes and the second begins, the trio finally gets a real taste of what they signed up for when they started ghost-hunting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY LADS. sorry this is a week late, i (reeseo) recently got put in the hospital and neither of us are doing so hot mentally, especially with finals looming. we hope to resume our regular programming! please enjoy this chapter

Arthur groaned and sat up in bed, running his hands through his hair. Winter break was just coming to a close, and this was the first night he’d slept alone in about a week and a half. Apparently that was more than enough time to get used to the constant presence of his friends, especially when he was trying to sleep- no amount of pillows piled on top of him could really measure up to the comforting feeling of Lewis’s arm casually slung over his chest as they both drifted off. Vivi tried to snuggle with them too, but it ended with her stealing all the blankets and kicking Lewis in the face, so she slept on the other half of the couch.

 

Arthur was at least mature enough to admit to himself that he _really liked_ cuddling with Lewis.

 

And now, the night before their first day back at school, Arthur was having a bitch of an insomnia attack. He wasn’t sure if attack was the right word for it, but he was too tired to really care.

 

Groaning again and throwing off his blankets, Arthur cautiously opened his door and walked into the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water, checking the time. One am. Of course. Not like he had to be up at six tomorrow (today?) to shower and get ready.

 

At least Lance was driving him.

 

* * *

 

Vivi tapped her chin thoughtfully, staring down the poster. She walked around the pillar twice, then stopped in front of it again, tilting her head one way, and then the next. Finally, she turned to Arthur, eyes shining. “I’m gonna be in the school musical.”  


Arthur grinned, raising his eyebrows. “Oh?”

 

She twirled around once again, then pointed at him. “You’re gonna help me practice.”

 

“Wouldn’t Lewis be better for something like this? He’s a way better singer than I am.”

 

“I wanna keep it a secret from him.”

 

“Why?”

 

Vivi pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the poster, before tucking it away into her pocket again. “So he can be surprised.”

 

Arthur shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking away, still smiling. “I don’t get you sometimes.”

 

Vivi bumped him with her hip as she passed him, walking towards her class, then stuck her tongue out at him when he stumbled. “You don’t have to get me, but you do have to help me practice. If I don’t get the main part I’ll kill someone, so you better be a good coach.”

 

“Again, I don’t know why you think I’m a better singing coach than Lewis!”

 

* * *

 

“DEMON!! Come on out demon!!”

 

“LEWIS, STOP IT!”

 

Arthur clung desperately to Vivi’s arm as she cracked up, trying not to drop her unlit flashlight. “Lew, holy shit, it’s like you _want_ to die or something.”

 

Lewis turned to them, grinning. “Do you have a better idea to get it to come out?”

 

Arthur groaned and buried his face in Vivi’s shoulder. As he was slowly getting taller and Vivi was, well, not, this action was getting harder and harder. Nothing could stop him from doing it, though. “Do we have to get it to come out?”

 

Vivi swung her face around so fast she almost bonked foreheads with him. “Of course we have to get it out! These people called for us, Arthur!”

 

“Actually, they put a ghost hunters add on craigslist,” Lewis supplied. Vivi glared at him. “Okay, not helpful, Lew.”

 

Lewis chuckled, and patted Arthur’s shoulder. “Listen, man, you know Vivi would do these whether we came or not. We might as well come to make sure she doesn’t get herself possessed or something.”

 

Arthur peeked out from his small hideout, and squinted up at Lewis. “Yeah, yeah, friendship and stuff.”

 

Lewis gave him a bright smile, and turned back to Vivi. “Maybe we’ll actually be able to get ghost hunting equipment with the money we get from this!”

 

Vivi’s hands started flapping so hard Arthur was nearly flung across the room. “Yeah yeah yeah! We need to actually find the demon first though!”

 

Lewis’s smile turned softer, and he grabbed the flashlight out of Vivi’s hand, tossing it up into the air twice before flicking it on. “Maybe after we get it, finding these guys will be easier.”

 

Arthur groaned, making his way over to latch onto Lewis. “We shouldn’t’ve left Mystery in the car.”

 

Vivi jogged over and fell into step with the two boys. “What, so he can tease you about being scared too?” Arthur scowled at her. “No, because demons tend to be pretty interested in talking dogs.”

 

Vivi shrugged, pulling the flashlight back out of Lewis’s hand, shining it around the room as they walked. “Come on, demon! We’re walkin’ all around your warehouse!”

 

Lewis laughed. “Yeah, demon! Are you scared of a couple of kids?”

 

“Come on out, demooon!” Vivi called, walking around in a small circle.

 

“We’re walkin all over your stuff!” Lewis yelled after her, giving a small stomp of his feet. “All around your floors!”

 

Vivi laughed too, climbing up a diagonal beam onto a horizontal one about 5 feet in the air. Arthur gave a yelp. “Oh my god, Vivi _please dont jump on that beam.”_

 

“DEMON! I’M JUMPIN’ ON YOUR BEAMS!” Vivi yelled, immediately jumping on the beam. Lewis pointed at her, looking left and right, as if it would help him see the demon that was clearly not present. “She’s jumpin’ on your beams!”

 

Arthur whimpered and clutched tighter on Lewis’s sleeve. Vivi let out a huff of disappointment and swung herself down, knees slightly buckling when she hit the floor at a bad angle. Lewis rushed to catch her, but she caught herself just when his hand landed on her shoulder. “This is stupid,” she proclaimed loudly.

 

Arthur laughed nervously, rubbing his arms. “You think?”

 

Vivi nodded feverishly. Lewis patted her shoulder sympathetically, but his face was alight with the laughter he was trying and failing to hide.

 

Vivi flicked off the flashlight, and started heading towards the door. “Honestly, what a total waste of time. You’d think a demon would want to be more impressive.”

 

Lewis shrugged. “Maybe we embarrassed him.”

 

“How do you embarrass a demon?”

 

“I mean, however it happened, I guess we did it.”

 

They were all more or less thinking along those same lines until the door to the outside slammed closed.

 

Arthur yelped, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tilting his head upwards. Lewis gave him a small look of concern, while Vivi, ever the sensitive girl, gave a whoop and pumped her fist into the air. “Fuck yeah!”

 

Lewis turned to her and grinned. “Demon time?”

 

Vivi nodded enthusiastically, when suddenly, the dim lights in the warehouse flickered off, everything remaining lit by a faint blue glow.

 

Vivi flicked the “on” button on the flashlight, grin growing impossibly wider when nothing happened. “The asshole fucked up our flashlight.”

 

Arthur shook his head. “And now we get this creepy blue light illuminating everything.”

 

Vivi took Lewis’s hand and began to lead him deeper into the warehouse. “We should go to where it’s brightest!”

 

Lewis laughed a little, grabbing Arthur’s wrist and tugging him along as well. “The demon is sure to be there, right?”

 

The whole warehouse gave an ominous creak in response.

 

Vivi giggled and Lewis let go of Arthur as they walked further into the building.

 

* * *

 

Vivi gave a yelp as her book was knocked out of her hand and skittered across the floor. Arthur was locked in a closet, and Lewis was behind the demon, trying to remain out of sight. Unfortunately, this guy was not as friendly as their old pal James had been- this one was out for blood. Her book of spells- while proven to at least be mildly effective- could not be put to good use anymore, because, well, it was currently twenty or thirty feet away and a certain demon _really_ didn’t want her to use it.

 

The demon hissed as Vivi threw some table salt at it and ran to grab her book, but it looked honestly a bit annoyed when it realized that the salt wasn’t actually anything that could harm it.

 

It turned to Vivi in somehow more rage than before as soon as she’d grabbed her book and started chanting some ancient inscription.

 

She’d honestly just turned to a random page that she hoped would do something (she didn’t have enough time to look for anything specific), so she was disappointed, but not surprised, when all that happened was some flowers springing up around her and the demon’s feet.

 

The demon roared and tore them up out of the ground.

 

“Vivi?! Are you okay?!!” Arthur yelled, slightly muffled in the closet.

 

“I’m doing great! Just fighting this demon alone!” Vivi yelled back, flicking through her book. Come on, just a simple binding spell- just something to get this fuckin’ thing in one place- THERE!

 

Vivi didn’t really know what any of the words meant, but she- and the book- began to glow with a faint blue-green light as she chanted them. The effect of them was literally instant. One second the demon was roaring and stomping all over the place, getting larger by the minute, and the next, it was stock-still, its arms pinned to its sides and its eyes flaring dangerously. But there was nothing it could do.

 

Lewis finally crawled out of his hiding place with a bundle of rope, and began to slowly tie the demon up, feet first.

 

He flicked his eyes over to Vivi for a second with worry as he worked. “Hey.”

 

Vivi was standing almost as still as the demon, staring at her handiwork. “Holy fucking shit.”

 

Lewis gave a small hum while tying a knot. “You okay?”

 

Vivi shook her head in bewilderment, tucking her book into her bag. “That was way too exciting even for me.”

 

Lewis gave her a small encouraging smile. “You were great, man. I’m sure I couldn’t’ve thought that fast or anything.”

 

Vivi looked tiredly at him. “That was magic or someshit, dude.”

 

Lewis shrugged. “We did just subdue an _actual_ demon, though. I don’t know what you expected.”

 

Vivi gave a soft smile and walked over to gently squeeze Lewis's arm. "Yeah. Thanks for grabbin' the rope."

 

The two were startled out of their little moment when Arthur gave a small knock on the closet door. “Hey, I’m like, still in here.”

 

Vivi laughed loudly and ran over to pick the lock. Arthur finally stumbled out about five minutes later, rubbing his arms nervously before pulling Vivi into a bone-crushing hug. “Vivi! I was so worried about you! I couldn’t see you but I know you did awesome!”

 

“Heh. Hell yeah I did.”

 

* * *

 

“ARTHUR!”

 

“What?”

 

“I MADE CALLBACKS!”

 

Arthur sat up slightly straighter, putting his phone in his other hand and pressing it to his ear again. “Dude, really?”

 

“I mean, duh, of course, I’m amazing, but I got one of the leading roles!”

 

“Vivi, that’s awesome! I’m super happy for you.”

 

“Aw, you’re just saying that.”

 

“I’m not! Lewis is gonna be hella impressed when he sees you.”

 

“I mean, I should hope so. That _is_ why we’re keeping this a secret.”

 

“He’s gonna love it, I swear.”

 

“Alright. Thanks.”

 

“You’re gonna be great! Now please let me sleep.”

 

“Oh jeez, yeah, of course! Sorry for calling you so late, I was just excited.”

 

“Heh, it’s no problem. T’was an honor to train you or, whatever. G’nite.”

 

“Night Artie! See ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell this was cut off early? this was originally going to be like TWICE AS LONG but i was like. hm. no. fuck that lol


	8. Chapter eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "this will possibly come out on time for valentines day!"  
> we lied. sorry.  
> this has been.... a long time coming. please say kudos and comment.

“Oh man, you’re baking?” Vivi prodded Arthur’s side, grinning. He glanced over at her, shooting a smile back.

 

“Well,” he started, “Homemade cakes are better than store bought. Lewis deserves something special for his birthday.”

 

Vivi nodded knowingly and dipped her finger into the batter. “Hey!” Arthur protested, yanking the bowl away from her. “ _‘Special’_ does _not_ mean _‘has Vivi’s spit in it!’”_

 

Vivi just laughed and wiped her hand on her dress. “Alright, alright, I suppose I’ll have to wait.”

 

She decidedly help him finish baking, by which means she ate batter and icing. She was helpfully on her phone when she noticed the time, and her eyes widened.

 

“Arthur, he’s gonna be here in five minutes!”

 

Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin, quickly carrying his cake to the table. “Get his presents, Vivi!”

 

They laid his gifts on the table, and shut off the lights, hiding in the dark corner. They stifled giggles as they heard the door open.

 

“Hello?” Lewis’s voice rang out as he slowly walked forward. He stumbled slightly in the dark, hand on the wall, searching for a light switch. He flicked it on and that was their cue.

 

“Happy Birthday!” Vivi and Arthur jumped up, holding out their arms. They framed the cake and presents. Lewis’s face broke out into a grin and he started laughing.

 

“You didn’t have to do this!”

 

“We wanted to!” Vivi retorted, grinning back. She watched him smile wide enough that the dimple on his left cheek became visible, and his eyes crinkled with happiness. Her cheeks grew red and she looked away, chuckling.

 

“We made— well, Arthur made— you this cake! It’s really good from the batter and icing I ate, you’ll love it— and we got you these gifts!”

 

She missed the way Lewis watched her with his own flushed face as she talked.

 

* * *

 

The stage lights centered on Vivi and Lewis felt his breath stolen. Her voice silenced the crowd as she sung and danced on the stage. Other cast members joined her, but he couldn’t focus on them. Just on Vivi.

 

Sparing a glance towards Arthur, he mouthed a wow. Arthur nodded in agreement, the thumbs up he was given barely visible in the dark auditorium.

 

He looked back at Vivi, transfixed. When asked later, he could only remember her part of the play. When it finished he hurried backstage, with Arthur hot on his tail.

 

They whooped and yelled cheers for her, showering her with compliments. Lewis handed her flowers as his face burned.

 

“You… did beautifully.”

 

He thinks he’s in love.

 

* * *

 

“No more school! No more school! No more school!” The three chanted as they were driven by Mrs. Yukino.

 

“You realize you’ll be going back in a few months, right?” She spoke amusedly, glancing in the rearview mirror to see some form of a pout on all of their faces.

 

“It’s still a few months of no school.” Arthur piped up, which launched them into more chanting. She pulled into her driveway, and the three scrambled out of her car, running into the house. That was quickly followed by Mystery’s loud barking.

 

She went inside to see them jumping onto the couch, arguing over video games and movies. Vivi and Arthur seemed to want to play a game of sorts (Mega Smashing Bros?) while Lewis and Mystery rooted for movies.

 

Once the lack of opposable thumbs was argued, they settled on a movie. Mrs. Yukino smiled. They were going to have a great summer vacation.

 

* * *

 

“He doesn’t like surprises.” Mystery pointed out, watching Lewis put up decorations.

 

“I know! We’re just decorating, not making a surprise demon summon.”

 

“That could be fun,” Vivi added, smiling sheepishly as Lewis and Mystery’s pointed looks. “I’m _kidding,_ kidding. Demons are dangerous.”

 

They grinned when they heard Lance’s truck rumble down the road. Vivi jumped in place. It was time.

 

“Thanks Uncle Lance!” Arthur called as he walked through the door, jumping slightly at the sudden yell of "happy birthday!" before he'd hardly taken his shoes off.

 

He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Aw, guys…”

 

Vivi laughed. “Don’t tell us we shouldn’t have!” she teased, pulling him over to the table. “Open the presents! Do it!”

 

Vivi’s gift was a orange beanie, perfect for when it was in the colder months. And Lewis’s gift was an orange puffy vest. Arthur put both items on— taking a little amusement in how the colors happened to match.

 

“Thank you. It’s really comfortable.” He smiled softly, looking over at his friends.

 

Vivi and Lewis stole conspiratory glances at each other, holding hands.

 

Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence it matched.

 

“I really appreciate it,” Arthur emphasized as the two looked at him, their hands quickly pulling away as if they hadn’t even known. Arthur rolled his eyes. They probably didn’t, the dorks.

 

He hugged them and kept the gifts on as long as they weren’t outside in the July heat. He ignored the burning feeling in his throat as he laughed at Mystery’s gift to him. Bowls that looked like giant take out boxes. He doesn’t even eat take out that much. Anymore. In the last two weeks.

 

He hoped he could always feel this content.

 

* * *

 

“Aw man, I swear, we get more candy every year,” Arthur said breathlessly, tugging his hat off. The trio had just finished going through their third neighborhood and showed no signs of stopping, racing down the sidewalk and nearly alarming speeds.

 

Vivi laughed. “Despite our old age!”

 

Lewis, who had grabbed both of their hands and pulled them along, let go of Arthur’s and lugged his bag of candy over his shoulder. “Fifteen isn’t that old, Vi.”

 

Vivi stuck out her tongue and him and pulled her hand out of his grip, leaning dramatically against his shoulder. “I turn seventeen this December. I can feel my frail bones already on the verge of failure.”

 

Lewis smiled fondly at her, wrapping his arm casually around her shoulders. “Honestly, we’ve got so much candy that we basically don’t even need to hit up the other neighborhoods. We’re only two miles from your house anyways.”

 

Vivi gave him a confused look, before Arthur cut in. “Vivi’s house for movies and candy?”

  
  
Vivi gasped, pulling herself out from Lewis’s grip again as she started walking, bouncing excitedly. “We can watch that one horror movie that’s out!”

 

Lewis flashed a sparkling grin over at Arthur, who gave a small encouraging smile in return. Anyone with half a brain could tell Lewis liked Vivi, and that she probably liked him back- Arthur wanted to have his friends happy, and well, if they made each _other_ happy, who was he to get in the way of things?

 

The thought couldn’t keep a delighted, mushy feeling from blossoming in his gut every time Lewis gave him that smile, though.

 

* * *

 

Lewis laughed as Vivi stepped on his foot for the third time in one song. It was one of the two slow, romantic songs that would play at the winter dance, and he really didn’t want to ruin the mood for anyone, but tiny Vivi swearing like a sailor and nearly kicking both his and her own shoes off with how giddy she was was, well, hilarious.

 

Vivi shot him a nervous smile. “Sorry, man. I’ve just never danced like this with anyone before.”

 

Lewis smiled warmly in return, looking directly at the floor. “Me neither. My mom forcing me to learn when she found out I, uh, asked you out doesn’t count.”

 

She unclasped one of their hands to poke him in the side playfully. “She means well, Lew.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

The song kept playing, and the two kept fumbling over their own limbs.

 

“I’ve, uh, liked you for a while. Probably since before the play.”

 

“Oh wow. That’s a while, huh?”

 

“I’m really glad you agreed to come here with me.”

 

“I would’ve asked you if you didn’t have the guts.”

 

They shared their first kiss that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO HELLO!! SO sorry this took so long to update, we've had this chapter sitting in drafts for AGES and finally got around to it...  
> this will not update every monday, obviously, beacuse today's sunday.  
> we DO plan on finishing this story! we just... don't know when.  
> chapter 9 WILL come out within the next few weeks, hopefully!  
> the tags for the story were also minorly updated

**Author's Note:**

> this is going to be really long. we already have everything planned out gdskjsgssjkshsshsjsj
> 
> this story WILL be finished.... eventually.


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